Corporate Governance and International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) on the Quality of Accounting Information in Libyan Government Sector

Abstract

Purpose: The objective of this study was to identify the importance of applying the standards of governance and International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) in influencing the quality of accounting information.   Theoretical framework: Recent literature has reported good results in both corporate governance and IPSAS (Bakhtah & Ammar, 2019). However, there is still much to investigate and learn about IPSAS because it is a recent development.   Methodology: The study population consists of a number of members of board directors, non-audited members, internal auditors, accountants and department heads in some branches of government entities in the Government Sector of Libya. 400 questionnaires were distributed to them and data was analysed in SPSS and PLS-SEM.   Findings: The five latent variables (ensuring a sound governance, disclosure, responsibilities of the board of directors, preservation of stakeholders’ rights and fair equal treatment) explain substantial 73.5% of the variance for the quality of accounting information among employees of Libyan banks.   Research, Practical & Social implications: We suggest a future research agenda and highlight the contributions made to knowledge particularly to both auditing literature and the quality of accounting information literature.   Originality/value: The findings demonstrate that the adoption of IPSAS will impact an external audit in Libya. IPSAS makes external audit reports uniform and affects external audit notes. The adoption of IPSAS will lead to the sharing of Libyan audit companies with global audit firms to acquire experience audit IPSAS-prepared financial statements. This will increase the external auditors’ findings and knowledge of international accounting standards.